What Is It Like As CEO To Downsize Your Company?
I remember when we had to layoff people in order to get our funding closed. We needed the funding to last at least 18 months.
So I had to let a lot of really good people go.
These were people that helped build the company. These were people that believed in what we were doing. These were people I cared about.
To say it sucked would be putting it mildly.
I felt it was really important to feel the pain that horrible day. I spoke to as many of the people we were letting go as I could.
Then I spoke to the whole company once the layoffs were complete. I made sure everyone understood what we did and why we did it.
It was emotionally draining.
Most of all, I thought about the people we let go. They did nothing wrong. I felt I had let them down.
Now these people would have to go home and tell their wife or husband and their children they didn’t have a job anymore. Anyone who’s been fired or let go knows what that is like.
We gave references for the employees that asked for them. And fortunately, all of the people we let go landed on their feet.